I HAD always assumed that a visit to the cinema was a safe activity, until several recent visits to the Odeon in Andover have proved me wrong!

Has anyone tried climbing up or down to reach their seat in any of the Screens?

Goodness knows how we have avoided an accident by people falling down the stairs!

There are no handrails, the seats at the ends of the rows have nothing to hold on to, the letters marking the rows are invisible, and so are the seat numbers once you finally manage to find your seat.

I have tried bringing these issues to the attention of Odeon, and am informed that all their cinemas conform to the health and safety regulations in force at the time the cinema is first opened - in the case of Andover this must be approximately 10 years ago.

So, how have they got away without upgrading their facilities to conform to current health and safety regulations?

A number of older people I know have stopped going to the cinema for this reason, and if this continues there is bound to be a serious fall, particularly when the lights are out.

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